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Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 7, SubSection 3 1627 The consent consists in a "human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other": "I take you to be my wife" - "I take you to be my husband." 128 This consent that binds the spouses to each other finds its fulfillment in the two "becoming one flesh." 129 Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 7, SubSection 4, Heading 1 1639 The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by God himself. 143 From their covenant arises "an institution, confirmed by the divine law, . . . even in the eyes of society." 144 The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's covenant with man: "Authentic married love is caught up into divine love." 145 Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 7, SubSection 5, Heading 2 1650 Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries who have recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. In fidelity to the words of Jesus Christ - "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery" 160 the Church maintains that a new union cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was. If the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God's law. Consequently, they cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists. For the same reason, they cannot exercise certain ecclesial responsibilities. Reconciliation through the sacrament of Penance can be granted only to those who have repented for having violated the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, and who are committed to living in complete continence. Part 3, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 6, SubSection 3, Heading 1 2364 The married couple forms "the intimate partnership of life and love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in the conjugal covenant, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent." 147 Both give themselves definitively and totally to one another. They are no longer two; from now on they form one flesh. The covenant they freely contracted imposes on the spouses the obligation to preserve it as unique and indissoluble. 148 "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." 149 Part 3, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 6, SubSection 4, Heading 1 2380 Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations - even transient ones - they commit adultery. Christ condemns even adultery of mere desire. 171 The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbid adultery absolutely. 172 The prophets denounce the gravity of adultery; they see it as an image of the sin of idolatry. 173 Part 3, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 6, SubSection 4, Heading 2 2382 The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble. 174 He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law. 175 Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death." 176 Return